Africa-Press – South-Africa. As Women’s Month draws to a close, the National Shelter Movement of South Africa has called for the dismissal of Police Minister Bheki Cele, amid what it describes as the “country’s spiralling gender-based violence and femicide pandemic”.
On Thursday, the organisation delivered an open letter to the Presidency, calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to act against Cele for failing to stem the violence against women.
“It is becoming increasingly evident that Cele is wholly unsuitable for his role as police minister. The minister has failed to effectively deal with the war on women and girls, and his recent appalling statements further exposed his lack of empathy for the pain and suffering endured by victims of gender-based violence.
“It is time for President Ramaphosa to step in and do what is needed to protect South Africa’s women and children,” the organisation said.
Earlier this month, Cele came under fire for saying that a 19-year-old woman who was raped along with seven other women in West Village, Krugersdorp, was “lucky, if it is lucky” to have been raped by one man, as opposed to several men.
DA wants Cele sacked for saying Krugersdorp victim ‘lucky, if it is lucky’ to be raped by only one man
During the interview with eNCA, Cele said some of the women had been raped by several men at a time.
The incident sparked a war of words between Cele and DA leader John Steenhuisen, who also recently made headlines for referring to his ex-wife as “roadkill”.
Women’s Legal Centre advocate Bronwyn Pithey said it was essential to have leaders who understood the complexity of gender-based violence.
“Leadership has to understand the lived experiences of women, have a vision, and set an example. Our leaders tend to say the right things, but implementation is still sorely lacking,” she said.
“Unless we have leadership that really understands the complexities of violence against women, we’re not going to see a real change. It’s a far bigger problem than one person.”
Between April and June, 855 women were murdered in South Africa. Another 1 179 women opened attempted murder cases, while 11 734 women opened assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm cases.
The National Shelter Movement’s call for action symbolised “the end of yet another depressing Women’s Month” and was echoed by more than 63 000 South Africans who signed a petition, started three weeks ago, calling for Cele’s dismissal.
Police ministry spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said the president addressed any concerns about his confidence in Cele on Tuesday while answering parliamentary questions. Ramaphosa said he had confidence in Cele’s “ability to continue to lead our fight against crime”.
Ramaphosa added that Cele was “often in the forefront in an effort to ensure these [gender-based violence] crimes are prioritised”.
“The Ministry takes [its cue] from these comments made and, as it’s been said before, the president hires the minister of police, and he is the only one who can dismiss him,” Themba said.
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